Coffee, Tea or Me(dicine)?

It is winter!
Not officially mind you, that happens on the December 21.
The time of year I am blessed with the joys of snow, Christmas and lots of pie!

While the season was approaching I was getting excited to enjoy warm, delicious espresso based drinks like peppermint mochas and eggnog lattes!

There was only one problem.
I had a cold, a common cold.

Instead of moping and complaining, I started to think.
If the common cold was so common, why wasn't there a cure?

Photographer Unknown

This post is about my quest to find a cure.
At the very least, I was determined to find a remedy for the common cold so my holiday season won't be ruined!

Will it be Coffee, Tea or Me(dicine)?

The Events.

Coffee?
I had just finished the coffee my husband left in the pot before going to work. A little less than half a pot. Just enough to stimulate the energy needed to get my son to school on time.

Tea?
Walking into the house from the garage the bright blue kettle on my stove catches my eye. I fill it with water, set it down and turn the burner on high. Shuffling out of the kitchen I head to the coat closet. After hanging up my coat, stuffing my hat and mittens into the bin, and placing my shoes on the rack, I slide my raccoon faced slippers and pad back to the kitchen to select a tea bag to brew with high hope of alleviating my sore throat.

Me(dicine)?
I can no longer even whistle a bit of air through my nose. I never appreciate my nose until I can't use it anymore. My sinuses are so stuffed my eyes have swelled making wearing contacts an impossibility. I don't like wearing my glasses. They are uncomfortable on a good day and unbearable when my head has become inflated with mucus like a water balloon.

They only cold medicine in the house is "green death", the green colored NightQuil.
It tastes makes bile taste good.

The Observations.

Coffee:
It gave me energy to get moving, but coffee is a diuretic. It made me slightly dehydrated and once the caffeine wore off, I crashed.

Tea:
It made my throat feel better. The herbal aromas rose with the steam and helped to clear my nose temporarily. While I still had to tinkle a lot, it didn't leave me feeling dehydrated like with coffee.

Me(dicine):
Worse than the flavor of the one cold medicine in the house is the medically induced coma it will put me in within 5 minutes of gagging it down. I can't. I have to pick up my son for pre-school in an hour.

After making some observations I recall some pertinent facts.
My husband was sick with this cold for 2 days. My son was sick for 5 days.
I have MS (multiple sclerosis) which means my autoimmune system is busy fighting against my body, so my immune system has less time and resources to fight off germs efficiently.

The Math.

If I take the number of days my husband and son are sick and add them together, then divide that sum by the number of people involved and finally multiple the quotient by 5 and have I the number of days I was sick.

In this case: ((2+5)/2)*5=17.5 days.

Like any scientific equation there are variables that need to be included.
In this case study those variables were Coffee, Tea and Me(dicine).
Each variable is assigned a number in the order of it's effectiveness and multiplied by the number of cups or doses I ingest.

Coffee gave me energy (.1) but dehydrated me (-.3).
Tea caffeinated tea gave me energy (.1), herbal qualities (.3) soothed my throat and temporarily cleared my nose.
Me(dicine): Medicine alleviates symptoms and induces sleep. Sleep is good when your sick, but not at the cost of my son; daytime use (-.5), nighttime use (.5).

So if I commit an act of desperation and omit coffee from my diet while I am sick, increase the amount of tea I usually drink from one cup to four and use medicine only at night for 5 days (the length of time my son was sick) I wonder what effect it will have on my cold.

(((2+5)/2)*5)-((((.1*4)+(.3*4))*5)+(.5*5))=
17.5-(8+2.5)=1
17.5-10.5=7.5

If I were to extended that logic to 7 days what would the outcome be?

(((2+5)/2)*5)-((((.1*4)+(.3*4))*7)+(.5*7))=
17.5-(11.2+3.5)=1
17.5-14.7=2.8

 

The Conclusion.

It has been proven I have too much time on my hands to have random thoughts when I am sick.
I also think it is safe to say I have not found a special remedy for the common cold.
However, I have learned to value of tea.

When you are sick, put coffee aside and drink tea instead.
I prefer mine in the traditional English style with a splash of (almond) milk and a sprinkle of sugar.
My husband prefers his plain or with a squeeze of honey. 

Busy. Busy. Busy.

The theme of my life right now is busy.
It almost seems to have become an understatement!

Organization is key to keeping my sanity stable right now.
Improving organization leads to higher productivity.

With the help of coffee, some of these changes are visible on this site.
Look under the banner where tabs have been added. 

If you click on Books! you will be taken to a page about...
you guessed it 
Books!
Not just any books, my books. 
Novels in fact.

If you click on Recipes! you will be taken to a page featuring recipes I have created.
Many are the perfect companion to a cup of coffee!

Can't get enough of my thoughts?
Want to know more about me? 
Click on the tab 'Who am I?'.
You will be taken to site to answer all those questions!

I will continue to feed my coffee addiction.
A series of posts are in the works even as I type this post.
Roast Notes:
Pages from my personal coffee roasting journal.

Keep checking back for these pages on my roasting successes and failures that haven't necessarily made it into a post before.

In the mean time, check out the changes while enjoying a cup or two of your favorite coffee!

Expectations. Hope. Coffee.

Expectations come with hope.

You expect you've been good for the year, so you hope Santa brings you a puppy for Christmas. 

Those were the years. 

 

CBS News

Now, I am older. As of February, I am one year shy of thirty.
Until this year I didn't really pay much attention to politics. 

I expected the officials who got elected to do their job. 

I hoped a deal would be struck before the budget was sequestered. 

Now, the only government office to not have their budget be affected by their inability to do their job is their own salaries.

I probably wouldn't give this any thought, except it affects my sister who was an officer in the Navy until last year and her husband who is an active officer in the Marines. They have both been serving their country since Sept 11, 2001.

But that's not the rest of the story, it affects my household too. 

This sequestered budget forces my husband to be furloughed. 

We will lose a significant portion of his salary. 

Since I am a stay-at-home mom, his salary is our only source of income.

Today, he told me this might not be the worst to come.

If March 27 passes with congress not meeting the budget deadline, it could be much worse.

And not just for us. I know there are many people who will be affected by all of this inaction.

To cope with these current events, I did the only thing I could think to do. 

I made coffee.

With a manual grinder, I ground Blue Mountain Jamaica roast.

I have been dying to try this coffee!

I did not buy green beans and roast them.
I could never afford them! Five pounds of green beans cost $240!

Already roasted bean were given to me as a gift from my in-laws when they got back from a vacation in Jamaica. 

It was like Christmas to me!

Expectations that this was going to be the best cup of coffee ever in order to assuage the pain of our current situation were high.

I brewed it with the manual press, poured it into two mugs and sat with my husband on the sofa. 

Top Gear (U.K) was on Netflix and our son was napping.

The heat from the cups warmed my perpetual cold hands. Raising to my lips, I sipped.

I don't know what flavors I was expecting, but they didn't come.

Thinking of how coffee changes flavor with different temperatures, I waited for it to cool and took another sip.

This was repeated until the coffee was gone. 

Looking at my hubby, my face showed my question and opinion. 

"I agree," was all he said in reply.

It had been an incredibly smooth cup of coffee. 

It had nothing repugnant about it.

It also had nothing remarkable either.

No flavor.

I was less disappointed on every Christmas morning growing up when all the gifts from Santa had been opened to discover he didn't give me the one thing I had really hoped for. A puppy.

I still hold out hope that Congress won't crush my expectations for them to do the job they have been elected to do. Their lives are not being affected, but my family's, my sister's family and many peoples family's will be affected. 

I would drink that unremarkable coffee every day, because it holds the promise of something better when I finish drinking all the beans. That the replacement beans will be better.

The same holds for our elected officials.

I will, my family will, make it through this crisis with hope because of the promise of being an American. There will be another election in 2014 where the officials who have not done their jobs can be replaced, just like my coffee.

How to Make Store Bought Coffee Better.

Snow has fallen, giving me the pleasure of shoveling the driveway. My son is too little to push a shovel, so he gets to use a dustpan.  

The concept of shoveling off the driveway is lost on him.

He scoops a pan full of snow off the side of the driveway I had just cleared and dumped it back on. Once he gets bored with that game, I am repeatedly pelted with snowballs. Mind you, the entire time I can see the faces of my neighbors through their windows watching and laughing as snow went down my back through the crack at the collar my scarf didn't cover.

With rosy cheeks and frozen feet, we head in. Hot chocolate was swiftly made for my son and then I checked for coffee options. Since the snow on the back deck was deeper than the driveway I had just shoveled, I knew replenishing my fresh roasted coffee stash isn't going to be a viable option until the groundhog's prediction of an early spring comes true.  

Only stale store bought coffee remains my option! *Gasp*

Have you found yourself in this situation?
Don't dismay!

With a manual grinder, manual drip device and a teakettle you have the power to turn bad coffee into decent coffee; decent coffee into good coffee; and good coffee into an outstanding cup.

Step One: Take the pre-ground store bought coffee and grind it again until it is fine, almost powder like.

Note: An automatic grinder will work, but the motor will emit heat which will roast the coffee further destroying the flavors and coffee potency of the blend.

Step Two: Boil water. Electric kettle, stove top or over a fire north woods style, it doesn't matter how you choose to do this step.

Note: Actually, remove the water from the heat before it reaches boiling temperature (212F). Ideally, coffee should be brewed with water around 190F and not above 200F.

Step Three: Set up a manual drip brewing device according to model specifications. Once the filter is in place, pour the re-ground coffee in.

Step Four: Slowly pour water over the grounds.

Note: Moisten the coffee thoroughly with a small amount of water at first, then brew as much coffee as the pot can hold.

Step Five: This is the most important step, Enjoy!

Whether or not the taste is improved by this five step method is up for debate.

Perhaps it is the "Ikea effect" that makes me believe I have made a better cup of coffee.

"Ikea effect" defined: You buy a piece of furniture, put it together, it wobbles and you still love it because of all the work you put into making it. Versus going to a furniture store and picking out a table, where if one wobbles you don't buy it based on the poor craftsmanship.

Is it possible using a manual grinder and drip machine to improve store bought pre-ground coffee actually makes a better cup of coffee, yes. Then again it is completely believable that the extra work does absolutely nothing to improve the cup.

But, even if that is true, I am enjoying the cup of coffee more than if I use the easiest way possible becuase I worked for it. 

In the words of Porky Pig, "That's all folks", five steps to improve the taste of store bought coffee when you find yourself unable to roast your own. Even if it is just the "Ikea effect" for coffee, I am happy and for me that is all the proof I need to know this method works.

As always Happy Roasting and Brewing!

Coffee Roast Guide

Whether you're a roaster or a consumer of coffee, the options on what to drink are staggering.

At first, walking down the coffee aisle at the grocery store made me giddy with the possibilities.
Then realization of my ignorance made a decision nearly impossible.

After an hour or so, I started to recognize similarities to some of the labels. Going home empty handed, I pulled out a few books and cruised the internet.

Finding a simple, easy to understand guide to roast selection was unobtainable. So instead, I have created a roast selection guide.

Characteristics to note in the roasts:

• The lighter the roast, the higher the acidity with less body or mouth feel. Some people describe the lighter roasts as being almost tea like in their qualities.
• The darker the roast, the lower the acidity. The payoff for less acidity is a full bodied cup of coffee.

Save it, print it and take it with you for reference the next time you need to roast or buy coffee.
 
Feel free to share this roast guide, but please don't sell it for profit.

Let me know what you think of the guide by using the comments box or emailing me directly at sarahjorichards@gmail.com.

Happy Roasting and Brewing!

Hunter's Blend: Mocca Java & Indian Mysore

What if the Big Bad Wolf and the  Woodsman  were the same person?
What would happen to Little Red Riding Hood?
Over the past couple weeks I found myself becoming Little Red in that very perdicament.
Here is my story.

31 October 2012.
Halloween start out innocent enough.

My son was dressed in his dinosaur costume. Stomping around the house and chasing the dog around with one loud, obnoxious ROAR after another.

After getting some real food and a couple of vegetables into his stomach, my son was jumping from a physiological induced sugar high at the front door.

Long after the sun had set.
Once every doorbell in the neighbor hood had been rung.
Past the time of Tick-or-Treaters at my door.
A wolf lead the dinosaur home.



2 November 2012
A terrifying realization hit me. 
Deer hunting opener was the next day.

The Big Bad Wolf from Halloween was about to become the Woodsman or rather the Huntsman.

I had to find a way to ensure my husband returned to me free of his canine form and red neck ways.
Coffee was the answer.

Roasting Notes for Hunter's Blend:

2 ounces Java Ciwidey and two 2 ounces Indian Mysore were
roasted on medium heat for three minutes with a high fan before increasing the heat to high for ten minutes and decreasing the fan to medium. The first crack was heard after one and a half minutes with the second occurring five minutes into the roast. 

It is important to note because I roasted these beans together the cracks were overlapping with the Mysore cracking before the Ciwidey.

This was a smoky, dark roast that brewed into a smooth cup of coffee.

The exact kind of blend my husband loves.
Surely this would ensure he returns to me the same gentle, caring and kind man I fell in love with.


3-10 November
He hiked.
He sat quite and still in a tree stand for hours.
He hunted.
He encouraged me with a video.
Please note: This video is meant to humorous. However if you are easily offended, skip watching and just keep reading.

11 November
He returned to me.

I learned this day that the cabin he was staying at didn't have a coffee grinder or machine.
He settled for chewing some coffee beans while sitting in his tree stand.

12 November
He was finally able to drink, instead of eat, the roast I had made for him.
It was delicious.

I encourage you to roast this blend if you like dark, smoky coffee.
Let me know what you think by using the comments box below or emailing me directly at sarahjorichards@gmail.com.

Happy Roasting and Brewing!

Mocca Java Blend: second attempt

At 6 pm, I wanted an espresso. Checking the cupboard I saw a sight that made me gasp stronger than the year every person in a haunted house was calling me out by name as I walked through.   An empty mason jar where the decaf should have been.

Looking out at the setting sun I thought, There is enough light.

No. There wasn't.
Not even with the pumpkins glowing near by, the deck lights on and a nearly full moon on the rise.

I thought, It's not too cold outside

Yes. It was cold.

I thought, I can get a Mocca Java blend roasted and some decaf Lagniappe roasted before my husband and son finish grocery shopping.

I was ambitious.

What I learned that night was that it takes significantly longer for beans to reach a first crack (and second) in Midwest autumn night time chill.

Roasting Notes:
Mocca Java Blend

2 ounces Java Ciwidey and 2 ounces Yemen Mocca Matari roasted together.

3 minutes on medium heat with medium-high fan. Then high heat for 14 additional minutes.

The first crack occurred 12 minutes into the roast with the second in the last minute. 

For notes on Lagniappe decaf refer to a previous post on this roast.

My nose was cold.My toes were cold.
The gap between my sweatshirt and jeans was frostbit.

The temperature wasn't the biggest challenge to overcome.
I could see the timer clearly, but not the beans as they roasted. This was a handicap I had never experienced while roasting before.

I used my sense of smell and hearing to finish the roasts.

I genuinely don't now whether it was the struggle of sensory deprivation or the longer roasting time needed because of the cold weather, but this Mocca Java blend was far superior to my first attempt.

My husband came out on to the deck when he got home. I was still roasting.

My breath was visible in the moonlight. I was still hunched over the roaster for warmth,  turning my head occasionally for fresh air to prevent asphyxiation.

He laughed when he say me and told me I looked like an addict.

I have standards for what I consume. If the means roasting in the dark, in the cold for a good cup of coffee during the day and at night, then am I not ashamed to declare I am a coffee addict.

I will be found in my back yard next week, and the ones to follow, with my dog on one side and the roaster on the other keeping me company and warm during the fall and winter months.

Happy Halloween and Roasting to All!

Improve Work Efficency.

 Work and coffee go together like...

Peanut Butter and Jelly
Cake and Ice Cream
Beer and Football

The problem with combining coffee and work is the inevitable spills.

Reports are highlighted brown.
Computers are shorting out.
Replacement shirt and tie are pulled out of the file cabinet.

The solution is to print out a designated sheet to contain the
coffee stains. Click for a PDF to print.


This design can be shared and used, but please don't plagiarize or sell for profit.

Practice. Research. Experiment.

photographer unknown

“I love this top.” You flip the tag over and read the price. “$75. I can’t afford this right now.” 

Leaving the dressing room with every intention to put it back on the rack and walk away, you notice there are only a couple left. The only left in your size in the one still in your hand and the sales rationalizing beings.

“This top is 25% off and I can save an extra 15% with this coupon...”

It is amazing how one can justify buying something. With coffee there is no justification needed for buying the better coffee. Using logic and science, roasting, brewing and drinking better coffee becomes our scientific duty.

Practice.

In high school I was a competitive swimmer. The 500 yard freestyle and 200 yard butterfly were my events. In college, I was a member of the synchronized swim team. I spent three hours a day in practice training.

I play the clarinet, bass clarinet and piano. Each of these instruments requires daily practice to improve.  

Sports and musical ambitions take practice, but practice doesn’t make perfect. 

Practice brings us understanding. Understanding brings us closer to perfection.

When roasting coffee, practice is needed in order to gain an understanding of the roasting apparatus. Familiarity of how my roaster works will allow me to roast better coffee. 

Practice isn’t limited to roasting. Practice brewing is important as well. And if you’ve spent the time roasting and brewing coffee or espresso, it is only logical to practice tasting the beverage. It is wasteful to spit it out, so you’ll just have to drink it. 

This is, after all, in the name of science. One must be thorough.

Research.

The scientific process documents the experiments and thoughts a scientist used to get to a conclusion. It is this method which makes it possible for scientist to build upon the knowledge of those who came before them in order to make new discoveries.

In order to roast and brew better coffee you need to learn from the knowledge of others. 

Read books and blogs.

Talk to baristas and other roasters.  

Drink coffee others have roasted.

Remember science is depending on our research to make more advancements everyone can benefit from. This might mean you’ll have sacrifice a hour of sleep and have that extra shot of espresso.

Experiment.

After becoming familiar with the roasting and brewing processes, and researching how others roast and brew while drinking good coffee, like Intelligentsia’s Black Cat espresso, it is time to apply what has been learned.

Recently I roasted Papua New Guinea  Purosa, Indian Mysore Chikmagular and Yemen Mocca Mataria together using only low heat. 

It produced coffee.

It wasn’t posionous.

It was far a success.

It left my mouth dry with a burnt crust after taste. 

I don’t consider the attempt a failure. 

Like Edison and the light bulb, I just found another blend roast that didn’t work. 

When roasts don’t turn out well it just motivates me to try again. 

The bad roasts are need with the good to obtain perspective. 

Which is why it pays during research to let your palate taste good coffee so you know what experiments to repeat and which ones to never do again.  

Share.

If Newton never share his law of gravity, would Einstein have been able to give us the theory of relativity?

Practice, research and experiment with roasting and brewing coffee, and then share your findings, the good and the bad.

It is for science!

For the betterment of culture and society.

For the advancement of the human race.

And one can’t argue with scientific fact.

Share your findings here by using the comments box, or by emailing me directly at sarahjorichards@gmail.com.

Coffee Shops: Logic vs. Emotions

First loves are hard to forget and so are second ones.
What if you could have both on the same night?

photographer unknown

My first love was my first boyfriend who gave me my first kiss. I married that man, so it is hard to forget my first love.

My second love is coffee.

It was a winter's night in Minnesota during college when I went into my first cafe. My husband, then boyfriend, and I were waiting for a bus to take us back to campus but it didn't come.

To say that night was a cold winter's night would be redundant. Winters in Minnesota would stop New Englanders from calling their  winters bitterly cold.

The warm glow from a cafe promised to fog up my glasses the instant I walk through. I couldn't see, but I can still remember the smell. Nothing had ever been so delightfully aromatic.

I ordered my first peppermint mocha. It warmed my body from the inside, filled me with holiday cheer and gave me the energy to keep warm by jumping until the bus finally came.

Seasonal drinks like a pumpkin spiced latte or a peppermint mocha might be what draws us through the doors of some cafes,but what is it that keeps us going back to coffee shops?

It is...cheaper at home.
A medium espresso based drink cost about $4. If you get one four times a week it equals $16/week and adds up to $832/year. The cost of an mid grade espresso machine with a steamer will pay for itself in less than 2 months. Saving you $700/year.

It is...healthier to do it yourself.
At home you can make espresso based drinks and flavor them with syrups just like a barista in a cafe does. Being able to control the amount of cream, sugar and syrups that go into you drink makes a home cafe a healthier option.  (Espresso Based Drink Guide)

It is...Eco friendly.
In the morning it is difficult to take a coffee mug on the road. A drive through cafes offer an alternative, paper cups with plastic lids and a cardboard sleeve. These three things, can be purchased in grocery stores, Target and other retailers, but so can travel mugs and reusable sleeves.

If consumers take the time to recycle these disposable coffee cups and utilize reusable sleeve options instead of using travel mugs, this becomes an Eco friendly addition to your home cafe.

The budget, health and need for environmental responsibilities are not in favor of coffee shops.
Logically, a home cafe makes perfect sense, but the strong emotions of a first or second love leave little room for logic. 

So, what is it that keeps driving  us out of our kitchens and back into coffee shops?

It is the atmosphere.

Coffee shops are a place to meet up with friends and family. A place for business meetings. A place of inspiration for the artistic. They are a  place to be with others.

Life is not meant to be lived alone.

People gather in bars and clubs as well, and it isn't always for the alcohol. Personally, I do not like bars or clubs. The light is to hectic or dim. Music is always too loud and the drinks are expensive for the bad taste. The atmosphere isn't as good as a cafe.

I never feel comfortable, because wasn't in the company of like minded people held together through a commonality, coffee.

I love solitude. I revel in a calming atmosphere where I can hold more than one thought in my head. Sometime though, I feel the need to surrounded by people sharing a common interest.

This is the is why we spend up to $10 for a drink we could have made ourselves at home for a fraction of the price, because we take away more than just coffee or seasonal drinks.

We gain a sense of community,  a sense of belonging.

In my first love, I didn't marry a perfect person, nor did I with my second love, coffee. With emotions driving logic off the road, the important thing is to see the imperfect perfectly.

What makes you go to coffee shops? I would love to hear you answers. Use the comments box below or email me directly at sarahjorichards@gmail.com.

Steaming Milk.

Autumn is here!

photographer unknown

I discovered the sudden change in seasons when I awoke. It was a dark and chilly morning. Leaving the security of the covers, I realized how intensely cold it was in the house.

I love cold weather. When I lived in Massachusetts I can't remember ever putting on my winter coat.  So, for me to say the house was a bit cold is saying something.

Walking to the thermostat I saw it was a balmy 61 degrees. Worried my son would get sick sleeping in this temperature, I turned on the heat. Nothing happened.

It took me a better part of the day to diagnosis the problem. In the mean time, hot chocolate was made for my son and I went to make a latte for myself. Picking the pitcher off the counter to chill it in the freezer while I set up the espresso machine, I realized it didn't need much additional chilling.

It was then I realized I didn't give out information on how to steam milk. I recently put out a quick home guide to making classic espresso based drinks (Espresso. Milk. Foam.), but provided no elaboration on how to steam milk.

Coffee is a sensory experience. 

All the sense are used when roasting beans. I have a book where I record the sights, smells and sounds of every roast in order to be able to reproduce the flavors again. It is no different when brewing and steaming. Adding milk to your espresso is to enhance the experience, to make that little bit of espresso last longer.

Read and learn how two common problems with steaming milk can be cured by using your sense of taste, hearing and touch.

Sour Milk.
I used to think steaming milk was a simple as pouring milk into a glass or pitcher, putting in the nozzle, and switching the machine from brew to steam. Not so.

When introducing steam or air into the milk it isn't like when you blow bubbles in milk. With the variable of heat the chemical properties of milk undergo changes.

Milk will gain a sour taste when it is over heated.

If you keep pushing it to heat up further, the fats in the milk start to scald, giving off a sour taste. The ideal temperature for steamed milk is between 135-165 degrees.

If you don't have a thermometer don't fret. This is where senses come in handy. Hold the pitcher/glass not by the handle, but by wrapping your hand around the body. When the container feels hot to the touch it has steamed long enough.

Screaming Milk.
Ever streamed milk and ended up hearing a freight train screeching through the kitchen. The whistle blowing is deafening in such close proximity.

The reason for screaming milk is because air hasn't been introduce.

Milk is stretched by the steaming it, by incorporating air in to the liquid. The volume of milk can increase through the process up to sixty percent.

There are two remedies that cure most screams.

One: The wand was submerged into the milk before the steam was on. Thus not allowing any air to be introduced. Turn on the steam, then submerge the nozzle into the milk.

Two: There may not be enough pressure. If you have the ability with your machine to increase the steam out put, then do so. If not, try cleaning the nozzle. Chances are a clog will be responsible for a the decrease of steam.


Steamed milk should froth and create foam if you have introduce air properly.

The texture of the foam when you steam correctly is a creamy, almost velvety texture which compliments espresso so well. Enhancing and increasing the experience.

Hope this helps to improve your home cafe. I would love to hear about your steaming experiences, the delicious, the inedible and the messy. Use the comments box below or email me directly at sarahjorichards@gmail.com.


Happy Roasting, Brewing and Steaming!